Left jab, right uppercut, duck left and left hook. Backhand deflect into lower cross block; back step into roundhouse.

With every movement, salt water sprayed into the air- as refreshing as it was distracting.

Revolving palm blocks, watch for the random follow up- Alex hacked as an elbow was driven deep into his stomach. An auraless paw was thrust into his jaw, launching him slightly into the air, the perfect position for a step-in side kick to launch him back and into the water.

Alex let himself settle into the sand, feeling the waves pass over him. His control over aura wasn't much, not like the true users, but at least he could alleviate the pain in his gut. The very act of focusing on the energy helped calmed himself down to stay under for so long. After a few minutes, he finally sat up, Celèste having moved into a sitting position while she awaited his return. "Thanks for holding back on that last one," he said. Her foot had stayed into contact with him for far longer than it normally would, the extended time reducing how bad the hit ended up. "Let's go again. Machoke and throh style?"

Celèste simply moved into a deeper, wider stance in response; perfect for grappling.

/ - /

She's kind of cute, Alex thought as the purple haired woman came into sight. Seated on the cobblestone wall and clothed in a blue sundress that was predominantly white, she looked every bit like somebody visiting their summer home. He couldn't say he recognized her though, but that wasn't saying much.

Barely a few steps after they passed her, she spoke up. "Excuse me, could I have a moment of your time?"

Alex smirked. Beside him, he could feel Celèste's aura flare in amusement. Oh the joys of having an aura sense. "How can I help?" He asked when he turned around, a pleasant smile on his face.

"I saw you working out in the water this morning. Your lucario and beheeyem make for very distinct pokémon."

He laughed in response. "Yeah, they aren't exactly the most common in Johto."

The woman swung her legs over the wall and stood up, smoothing out her dress. "My name is Anabel. Would you mind if we had a battle?"

Alex immediately raised a brow. At their age, battles tended to happen long after introductions (unless you were someone like Candela). It wasn't exactly improper behavior, but it was rather jarring to start off with the favored conversation piece of youths. "Does Palm Hills even have a proper battle area we can use?"

She giggled. At what he couldn't tell. "The locals don't have any problem if we use the beach. So long as we don't alter the terrain too much."

He gave a partial bow, hand sweeping grandly before him. "By your lead, Miss Anabel."

With another smile, she turned around and set off at a sedate pace. "How has Palm Hills been treating you, Mister…?"

"Alexander Collens. Alex works fine." Celèste gently prodded his back. Through their aura link, he felt sensations of amusement and anticipation. "And once the locals warmed up to me, it's been great. Admittedly, showing up at one of the high end restaurants in shorts and a tee probably wasn't the best move, but I was once told that if I had the pid, I wouldn't regret spending some time there."

"They didn't mention that it would be a suit and tie place?" She asked in confusion.

Alex cleared his throat in embarrassment. "I knew about the soft dress code, but when I made the decision to go it was after I spent the day getting some equipment set up; didn't feel like dressing back up once I had the chance to relax. What about you?" He questioned. "You look a little young to have retired. What brings you here?"

Anabel seemed to preen under the compliment. "I'm guessing you have no clue who I am then?" At his denial, the woman seemed to become more relaxed. "That's okay. I'm taking a break from my previous career. I was in the field since before I became an adult and wanted to take a break while I figured out where I wanted to go next. I'm staying at my Uncle's Villa. He works for the KanJoh Pokémon Association."

Alex chuckled. "I know the feeling. I used to work as a Subway Leader over in Unova during my youth. I got a little tired of it though so I signed up for the Rangers. Nature suits me a lot better than it does city life."

"You used to be a ranger? Like the Area Rangers from Almia?"

"No, no." Alex waved his hands. "Like a Park Ranger. Never did understand why they didn't make a better distinction between the two." He put his hands in his pockets, staring up at the sky. "We both tend to nature though, so I suppose the similar name's okay."

Anabel started walking on the other side of Celéste after that, slowing down every so often only to speed back up. After several moments of doing so, "Your lucario trusts you very much."

"Her name's Celéste," he supplied. "And after being together for almost twenty years, I'd like to think so too."

Anabel brought a hand to her mouth in surprise. "Twenty years? Goodness me. And here I was thinking you were close to my age."

"28." He nodded towards her.

"Early twenties," she answered. "Do all your pokémon trust you as well as she does?"

"Forgive me if I elect not to answer that until after the battle." He chuckled. "An admirable attempt, but don't think I'll give away potential answers to how we fight that easily."

"Of course. My apologies."

At this point Alex felt confident in claiming the woman wasn't a Johto native. Some of the behaviors were there, but her apology lacked the distinct full bodied movements. It was an admirable attempt, but it was clear to him that it was only recently she had picked the skill back up. When they got to an isolated section of the beach, the three of them started drawing the markers for a standard field, more in consideration of the locals than a need for themselves.

"How does a 3 on 3 sound? Singles, no substitutions."

"IPA standards?" He added.

Giving him a odd look, Anabel nodded. "We'll go first. Lily! Let's start the show!" With a graceful toss of a pokéball, a slimmer than average Espeon appeared, giving out a loud cry.

Alex nodded to himself, mulling an idea over. "Morgan, full breaks! Await further commands." As the dive ball returned to his hand with a loud 'clap!', the vaporeon trilled in response, tail lazily swaying side to side.

Anabel's expression hardened. "Calm Mind, then Swift!"

"Reposition!" He shouted out, eyes narrowing. "Hold triplicate Scald; blow every star out of the sky!" The Water type bounded to the right several steps, body inflating slightly before unleashing three streams of water once the espeon's attack began. Each spurt of steaming water plowed through the array of stars causing a series of tiny explosions that showered the sand below with water.

Both Anabel and Lily had moved to evade the attack, both of them giving minorly irritated and wary looks respectively. "Your vaporeon's well trained," she called out, moving back to her 'box'. "It's not often you see pokémon that can fire attacks that rapidly."

Alex's brow bounced in amusement. "Dig," he ordered calmly. Not a moment later, a pulse of psychic energy landed where Morgan once was, sending a spray of sand into the air.

"Calm Mind and Future Sight, once more!"

This was the problem with adhering to IPA standards without registering. Because his pokémon knew so many moves, it was well within his right to have them use the precise move to counter a specific enemy. Part of him wanted to do exactly that, but he knew both he and his pokémon wouldn't be satisfied if they chose that route. Better to take the harder option; at least those would let them suffer some.

"Whirlpool, four corners." The sand shifted slightly as Morgan moved into position. A moment later, water began coalescing in the corners of the arena. A few short seconds and they were full formed vortices. As the ground started to bulge, Morgan's lung capacity having reached its maximum, "Protect!" The shield of energy surrounding Morgan shimmered as psychic energy slammed into it, the vaporeon landing in a ready position.

"Lily, Swift, around the ring!"

"Sweep it all up," he commanded, "converge on the espeon."

The four bodies of water surged towards Morgan, rotating around him protectively as stars began flying. Three revolutions, and the four standing whirlpools spiraled out and around the arena, absorbing the rest of the attacks flying at him. With a victorious cry, Morgan directed the waters to the espeon, her form barely visible behind the now combined whirl of water.

"Calm Mind," Anabel shouted once again. "Don't worry, it'll pass!"

That was now three times. The moves he'd chosen for Morgan were a poor matchup compared to the rest of their options, but that was alright. "Morgan, let's add some heat to the mix. Scald!" A large torrent of water, almost approaching levels of a Hydro Pump, shot into the Whirlpool. Soon, steam started wafting off the vortex. Inside it, Lily let out a cry of pain. "Now Dig!" As Morgan disappeared into the sand, the whirlpool ended. Lily was breathing heavily, steam and droplets of water emanating off its body.

"Future Sight, Lily. Hang on just a bit longer!"

And now what did that mean? Was the espeon nearing its end? Was their fourth, unused move something that could turn the tide? "To me!" He shouted. "Staggered Scald!" Alex glanced away and shielded his eyes as sand exploded into the air. The first spray of water missed, but the second hit its mark. The former ranger glanced down at his vaporeon, face twitching when he noticed the red patches flaring on the water type's body. Synchronize.

"Refresh and Swift!"

"Center! Double Protect into Whirlpool, stand firm!" Morgan dashed forward, the first wave of stars harmlessly dissipating against the shield of energy. An intangible crash of energy came in from above. The shield held strong, but at the last moment Morgan flinched and let out a pained cry, taking the rest of the Swift attack to the face. As he recovered, the psychically transferred Burn flared up once again. "That's a cruel moveset," he told Anabel, giving a sardonic smile to her own chipper variant.

"It's just poor luck Scald managed to burn Lily," she responded with a pleased lilt. "Calm Mind and Future Sight, once more!"

"Morgan, evade." Rain Dance would have allowed his eeveelution the ability to cleanse the status effect. Aqua Ring would have helped to last longer. Icy Wind could have slowed the espeon down hard enough for a Blizzard to have landed without any problems. A Surf or Muddy Water would have been powerful and easy to pull off next to the ocean; same with Sand Attack because of the beach. Alex shook his head sadly. Sure, a four move limit required a significantly larger amount of strategy, but it limited the true skill of a pokémon. "Protect," he called out, feeling the mass of psychic power start to move once again. Another perfect block, much to Anabel's frustration.

"Whirlpool, delayed." By his estimates, that would be the last move Morgan would be able to handle. With Lily's mind as focused as it was, the power behind every star was incredibly strong. Combined with the draining effects of Burn, even if he ordered a Protect (which he would, to spare Morgan the pain) he would still fall out of fighting condition. At least the Whirlpool landed. Alex waited for it to fade away (briefly; he had to act quick if he wanted to move when it flared back up) before recalling his pokémon. "Caitlyn, stand by!" A grand throw of her heal ball sent it arcing high into the air, the device safely releasing his gardevoir on the beach floor.

"That's one for us," Anabel said happily.

"Round Two will be a bit harder," he answered simply. "Caitlyn, Rain Dance, allegretto." When the localized rainstorm started, the whirlpool started back up with an enhanced ferocity, completely pinning the espeon in place. "Charge Beam, harrying fire." With each build up and release of electricity, Caitlyn glided to a new position on the field, leaving no trace of her passage in the sands below. By the time the blinding whirlpool had ended, electricity was sparkling all across the gardevoir's body.

"Lily, you alright?" The espeon cooed loudly, a dare to take her down hidden within the intonations. "Okay! Future Sight, then Swift!"

Alex let out a short sigh. Round complete. The first attack would still arrive at some point, but at least they wouldn't be in continued fear of the espeon's enhanced powers. "Caitlyn, Hurricane."

"Huh?!"

With a single gesture of her hand, gale winds flared up, throwing sand every which way. Alex shifted his stance to make sure he didn't topple over, and beside him he could hear Celèste dig her feet into the sand to do the same. Unlike certain other moves, Hurricane's damage didn't exactly come from the attack itself. Instead, it was the debris blowing around that dealt damage, as well as the impact of an unsecured 'mon crashing against everything. In his blurred vision, Alex could make out a stream of sand raise the espeon into the air, a separate torrent sending it crashing into the ground right as gravity began to take hold. The heavy winds continued for a few seconds after, but even after the roar died down it was still an unforgettable murmur. As hard as Caitlyn tried to keep the move contained, building up that much potential couldn't be dispersed so easily.

Anabel slowly recalled her fainted pokémon, her appearance extremely disheveled from the attack. "Gardevoir can't normally learn Hurricane," she shouted over the dying winds.

"Took us a couple months and a lot of messing around with her psychic abilities," he shouted back.

With less flair than before, Anabel called forth her next pokémon, the red energy forming into that of an Alakazam. "Gladio, be wary! This one's strong."

Another potentially status resonating pokémon. Luckily he'd already cemented Cayla's moveset this time around. "Rain Dance, once more."

"Kinesis!"

Their mental link accidentally connected right then, a sharp pain lancing through Alex's mind. For some pokémon, Kinesis was utilized by some distracting display of psychokinetic power. For others, it was by directly attacking the mind and creating what was best described as a migraine. Healing energy suddenly flooded his body from behind, washing away the worst of the distraction. If only Caitlyn could receive the same treatment. "Fight through it, then strengthen the weather!" Alex knew that if he looked skyward, he'd be able to see the clouds swirl once again, the herald of precipitation turning an even darker grey.

"Disable! Make sure it hits!"

"Evade! Thunder where you can!" It was no mass Teleport, but their dance was beautiful all the same. Movements aided by the psychic power keeping them aloft, both Cayla and Gladio fired attack after attack at each other, their focus on not getting hit by the other too great to ensure their own would land properly. "Hurricane!" He called out.

"Kinesis, don't let it go through!"

Despite the mental attack once more sending them both to a knee, the winds still kicked up. This time, a column of water was picked up from behind Cayla, leading the assault ahead of two whirls of sand.

"Gladio, Recover!"

Shouting over her follow up command was a mistake, but they needed to strike while the alakazam was busy. "Thunder, now!" Rejuvenating energy encircled the third stage evolution right before the Thunder finally hit, leaving it worse than before but still standing.

Irritation. Frustration. Excitement.

Alex chuckled mirthlessly. Right before Gladio had started the Recover, it had sent out a single Disable. In their haste to act they'd missed it. "Have I mentioned you've got a cruel move set?"

"One or twice," she chirped, wiping away the rain that gathered on her brow. "Gladio, Psychic!"

"Set up a Hurricane, Twirl!" By his estimates, Cayla was only able to set up three pulses of energy before she was forcibly interrupted. The Psychic pressure clamping down on her for only a second before it was forcibly stopped.

Two jets of air slammed into the Alakazam, each launching it higher into the air. The third curved down from the clouds, crashing into Gladio and dragging it through the sand.

The beam of a pokéball flared out, Gladio recalled to the device. Through the lightening weather, Alex could see Anabel whisper something to her stored pokémon. "Caitlyn, how you feeling?"

Annoyance. Exhilaration. Anticipation.

"Let's see how you handle this! Hyacin, time to battle!" The massive form of a Snorlax took shape, the behemoth raising both arms and letting out a war cry.

"Charge Beam into Hurricane! Aim for the head!"

"Punch through, Heavy Slam!"

The electric attack splashed against the snorlax's front almost ineffectively. "Belay, watch and dodge!"

Panic. Anxiety. Pride.

Despite the snorlax suddenly twirling on a foot, Caitlyn dove underneath the extended paws, psychokinetically pushing pushing away the rain that threatened to fall into her eyes.

Hyacin descended. Three back steps away, Cayla still had to throw out a pulse of psychic power to prevent the plume of sand from getting in her eyes.

"Fire Punch!"

"Hurricane, continuous gusts!"

Confusion. Concern.

Alex focused on gratitude, sending the emotion through their mental link. Even as he recalled Caitlyn's supine form (so very much an act), he could see the snorlax frown in annoyance. The repeated blasts of wind had served to rattle the giant's head, even if it's stamina was still holding strong.

"Celéste." With absolutely no fanfare, his lucario stepped out onto the field, no sign of budding aura or enhancing moves.

"Finally making use of a type advantage, huh?"

"Not quite," he answered back, lips pulling into a slight grin. To lose or not to lose? It wasn't as if their pride was on the line here. There wasn't anything to prove, either. This was just a small exercise to make sure he could still play by IPA rules. As the skies cleared and the light of the partial moon finally started to shine on them, Alex called their first move. "Calm Mind."

"Close in! Seismic Toss!"

At the last second, "Agility." Celèste danced out of the way, sand splashing into the sky with her movements. "Once more; retreat." Truthfully, he should have told her to listen fully to his commands. Gliding across the sand as quickly as she did, even if she had three uses of Agility, would have been impossible if she hadn't been applying aura to the bottom of her feet. He doubted she would enhance the rest of her attacks though. "Flash Cannon, burst!"

"Giga Impact, don't let it stop you!"

Hyacin soared through the air in a drop kick, the massive energy behind the attack making the Normal type appear much like a falling meteor. Taking the initiative, Celéste leapt higher, performing a graceful front flip before unleashing a flare of Steel aligned energy.

The ensuing explosion left white blue sparkles showering through the air, Celéste waiting in the center of the field in a ready stance. On Anabel's side, the snorlax was laying down on its side, the woman herself wiping away the massive amount of sand that had been displaced by the impact.

"Your lucario has a lot of power behind it." Hyacin pushed itself into its feet, a terrifyingly excited expression on its face. "So how come I've never heard of you, Mr. Collens?"

"We like to keep a low profile. Let the folk that did their journeys with a sponsorship take the spotlight, it's what they're there for." Alex flexed his aura, what little it was, questioningly. Despite how simple the battle was, Celéste was already prepared to ramp up the battle if it came to it. Such a shame that they were in public though, and that Anabel didn't seem to be in the know about that particular ability.

Celéste's response was simple. The self imposed restrictions they were operating under was exciting. The move set Alex had chosen for all of them were moves outside their usual skill set; overcoming the odds in such conditions was as satisfying as taking down a herd of rampaging pokémon.

"Close the gap, Fire Punch! Watch out for what else they've got!"

"Force Palm, showcase your speed and slug it out!"

Sand exploded into the air with each step, Celéste meeting the snorlax before it could even take a third step. It felt strange watching Celèste dance around the giant like this, rather than pressing the advantage. Fire trailed through the air with every swing of its meaty fists, lighting up the area in a way that would have made an infernape jealous. Enhanced as she was, the strikes barely approached Celéste's form, though it slowly became closer as time went on. It was masterfully done, too. The mass use of Force Palm had inevitably managed to disrupt the muscles Snorlax enough to start slowing it down, but with Celéste's carefully managed response, most bystanders would think that she was starting to tire from the continuous combat.

"Seismic Toss!"

He could have ordered her to dodge it. It was a hit she didn't need to take. But she wanted to. She wanted it just as much as she wanted to take control of the rest of the battle. Alex stopped himself from shaking his head and schooled his smile into one of concern. He'd need to focus if he was to play this right. "Force Palm the ground as you retreat!" Celèste made a show of hunching over when she stopped moving, a path of heavily uneven sand linking her to Hyacin.

"That won't stop us! Giga Impact!"

"Flash Cannon, no holding back!"

Oh how easy it would have been to intercept with a Seismic Toss of her own. To snipe an enemy out of the sky with a Vacuum Wave or violent burst of Aura Sphere. Why she wanted to do it this way, he couldn't understand, but at least the way the unfocused attack, dense enough to almost be confused for a rushed Hyper Beam, dissipated as Hyacin fell from the sky was pretty.

Alex waited a moment before waving the lingering dust away. On the central right section of the field, Hyacin lay unmoving. Through his senses, he could feel Celéste's utter satisfaction, the Fighting-Steel type giving a flare of her relatively undamaged state before letting herself fall 'unconscious'. Hands in his pockets, Alex walked over to the small crater, waiting for Anabel to recall her pokémon before pressing Celéste's pokéball against her body.

Anabel waited until he stood back up to walk away, motioning for him to follow. It wasn't until they were well into a residential district that she broke the silence. "You can learn a lot from somebody by the way they battle."

Alex grunted in agreement. He could sense the monologue coming, but considering how happy she seemed to share her knowledge he didn't want to stop her.

"Some trainers go all out with their attacks, hoping that the one that hits will be enough to keep their opponents down. Others play the long game and use all sorts of status or weather effects to achieve victory." She stopped in front of a relatively simple double gate, brick and metal fencing extended out to the sides. "Thank you for the battle today, and for escorting me back home." She smiled. "Might I see you again? I'd love to compare notes on battle strategies. I could tell you have a lot of knowledge."

Alex chuckled. "Sure. I'll swing by the docks around lunchtime."

Anabel turned around and quickly inserted the code to open the gates. Turning her head slightly, "I hope you'll show me your full power tomorrow. It's kind of exciting, knowing I'm in the presence of pokémon that could match up to Legendaries."

Before he could even respond, the woman walked off with a near skip in her step, leaving him blinking in confusion.